Monday, April 02, 2012

Stars in My Eyes

I went to Iceland to teach knitting on a tour for knitters–and forgot to bring something to knit.

I left with knitting in my bag, sure. I didn't have a hat or neck warmer to wear on the trip, so I whipped them out en route. But that left me with nothing to knit once I landed.

Of course, in Iceland you are never more than two feet from a yarn display and I picked up two balls of Lopi Einband. Einband is Lopi's laceweight. Fuzzy, warm, decidedly on the crunchy side. Takes dye like a mofo, blocks like a dream.

Total cost: six United States dollars.

I started playing with the yarn during the tour, and now it looks like this. I'm calling it Iceland Sky–fathoms of blue studded with stars and draped in the aurora borealis.

Pattern forthcoming. This week, as soon as the Anna Shawl comes back from the splendid new tech editor, Iceland Sky heads out for him to review.

Gorgeous! Fabulous! And I know where you can find Einband in the US -- it's available at NordicStore-wool.com, in a zillion colors (and just over $3 a ball, so it's not a whole lot more expensive than in Iceland, I suspect). Now all I need is the pattern and I'll be casting this beauty on faster than you can say "Iceland Sky"!

I am so excited to get my hands on the pattern for this. I very rarely see a pattern for a lace shawl using two colours which is to my taste, but this one is perfect for me. It's strong, but delicate, and I love it.

Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire! You have outdone yourself with this one. A touch of Victorian style, brought into the 21st century with bold colorwork and a main-body stitch that does not look fussy in the least.

Depending on the colors used, I could see this appealing to my late grandmoms (born 1890 or so) and to the most fashion-forward of my nieces (youngest born 1995 or so).

There is no thing like destination. Yesterday - against my will, I was heading to project "attic" (my hyperactive hubby-"either u do somehthing about it or I throw everything out") - here I discovered a treasure, so many skeins of green, blue, bluegreen, greenblue Einband yarn. Colours of peacock... So make my mother in law happy this christmas, my sister happy this summer, and my dementia super ever knitting auntie :) and spreed the word (and recipies) to us :)

Franklin, it's stunning. I was JUST thinking about your Icelandic trip last night! (Moon coming to full, hard to sleep.) What a treat to think about a yarn section in the grocery store.

While we wait for the pattern, are you allowed to tell us how much yarn you used, so we can get some ordered?

Thank you for supporting Icelandic wool. I'm a handspinner, and I adore Icelandic fleeces. Luckily, there are flocks in North America now, but their yarn is as unique as the sheep, and as the fiber it's prepared from. It's great of you to give it a boost in this world addicted to Merino (not that there's anything wrong with Merino - I've got stunning Merino in the stash, too).

ooooooooh!!!! My in-laws went to Iceland a few years ago and I've got four different colours of Einband just waiting for a pattern! Yaaaaay! (PS Blogger won't let me convince them I'm not a robot if I use my wordpress ID, so I'll leave it here, in case anyone's looking for a new recipe for peach flan and some book reviews:-B http://bronwenreads.wordpress.com)

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